New Reed Snake Species ‘Calamaria mizoramensis’ Discovered in Mizoram
In January 2026, Scientists from Mizoram University, in collaboration with researchers from Russia, Germany, and Vietnam, discovered a new reed snake species, named ‘Calamaria mizoramensis’, in Mizoram. The findings were published in the international scientific journal ‘Zootaxa’.
In January 2026, Scientists from Mizoram University, in collaboration with researchers from Russia, Germany, and Vietnam, discovered a new reed snake species, named ‘Calamaria mizoramensis’, in Mizoram. The findings were published in the international scientific journal ‘Zootaxa’.
- The discovery adds a new species to India’s reptiles, brings the global Calamaria count to 70, and updates Mizoram’s herpetofauna to 169 species.
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- What? New reed snake species discovered
- Scientific Name: Calamaria mizoramensis
- Where? Mizoram
- Published In: Zootaxa (International scientific journal)
- Conservation Status: Least Concern (IUCN – tentative)
About Calamaria mizoramensis:
Identification: The species was identified by correcting a long-standing taxonomic misidentification of specimens first collected in 2008, confirming the Mizoram population as a distinct evolutionary lineage.
Characteristics: The snake is small, dark brown to blackish with faint stripes and a yellow underside, and is non-venomous, nocturnal, and semi-fossorial.
Habitat: It inhabits humid, forested hill regions at elevations between 670 and 1,295 metres (m) above sea level.
- The species is confirmed in several Mizoram locations: Aizawl, Reiek, Sihphir, Sawlêng, Mamit, and Kolasib.
Conservation: It is tentatively assessed as ‘Least Concern’ under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria due to its occurrence across multiple localities.
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